


a garden to get lost in

by mooseisloose237



Series: the stories on our skin [1]
Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Coping, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, Multi, Season/Series 04, Tattoos, its offscreen, just some jon and daisy friendship feels, super light hurt though
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-31
Updated: 2020-07-31
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:33:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,221
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25629778
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mooseisloose237/pseuds/mooseisloose237
Summary: "This one, however, is massive in comparison. It started just above Daisy's wrist and snaked up her arm, coming to a stop just before her collar bone. It was made up of flowers, leaves, and twisting vines, all in a black-and-white, simplistic style. The styles of each flower varied, almost as if it had been done by different people. Despite this, it all fits together, swirling and twirling into a mesmerizing pattern."A look at Jon and Daisy's friendship, featuring small touches, safety, and tattoos.
Relationships: Basira Hussain/ Alice "Daisy" Tonner (Background), Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist & Alice "Daisy" Tonner, Martin Blackwood/ Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist (background)
Series: the stories on our skin [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1885276
Comments: 10
Kudos: 88





	a garden to get lost in

**Author's Note:**

> SO I finally made a board for tattoos on Pinterest (i hate needles but still really want a tattoo), and I kept seeing these nice flowery ones, and it made me think of Daisy. Combine that with the fact that I often draw or paint on my arms to calm down, and we have this! It's basically canon-compliant, just adds some stuff. So, without further ado, enjoy!

It's the first time he’s seen Daisy’s arms, Jon realizes.

Up until that point, they had always been covered - by a police uniform, a cardigan, a leather jacket pulled over a t-shirt. Jon had never really thought about it, what lay under those layers. Had he thought about it, he would have assumed to see a continuation of her pale, lightly freckled skin.

He was wrong.

* * *

It's a few days after the coffin. Jon had barely seen Daisy; other than a small conversation after climbing out, he’d only caught glimpses of her as she was shuffled from appointment to appointment by Basira.

He’s finishing a statement when she carefully walks in, making her presence known before fully stepping into the room.

His eyes drift first to her face. It lost the angry edge it had before, but is still sharp, any soft parts hollowed out by the months she was gone. The rest of her body seems to be in similar shape - still tall, but bonier and lankier than before.

As his eyes move downwards, he takes in her clothes - a green tank top and dark, loose-fitting pants - before finally noticing her left arm, covered in dark marks.

It is not the first tattoo he has seen. Georgie had gotten one in uni - a small cat on the inside of her ankle, and Jon had been there to hold her hand while it had happened. He had glimpsed Tim’s, a date on his forearm he later learned was Danny’s birthday. Martin even had one, a small sunflower on the inside of his wrist, that had peeked out when handing over files and tea.

This one, however, is massive in comparison. It started just above Daisy's wrist and snaked up her arm, coming to a stop just before her collar bone. It was made up of flowers, leaves, and twisting vines, all in a black-and-white, simplistic style. The styles of each flower varied, almost as if it had been done by different people. Despite this, it all fits together, swirling and twirling into a mesmerizing pattern.

Jon examined it, tracing the lines with his eyes, until Daisy cleared her throat, and he met her gaze.

“Hi,” she says.

“Hi,” he answers.

They stare at each other for another moment, before Daisy lowers her gaze and starts talking again, fidgeting with the hem of her tank top.

“Basira’s out investigating something, and I can't find Melanie, so I was wondering if I could stay in here for a bit. Really just… don't want to be alone.”

She finishes and looks up again. Jon thinks he understands.

He nods, and she settles on the extra chair in his office, legs curled beneath her. They both settle into their respective activities: Jon, checking notes on a statement; Daisy, tracing unseen patterns on her pants.

As the minutes tick on, Jon continues to glance at Daisy's tattoo, continuing to trace the patterns it makes. It's easy to become absorbed in it, letting everything fall away to examine the garden it creates.

After catching him looking for the third time, Daisy finally asks, “Do you want a closer look?”

Jon looks up, feeling a tad guilty at being caught again. He clears his throat. “If- if that's alright with you.”

She nods, and Jon scoots his chair closer.

For the next few minutes, they sit like that, side by side, in what Jon thinks is companionable silence. They each follow their own pattern, eyes moving up, down, and around each branch, flower, and vine. It feels good. Nice. Safe.

* * *

It continues. They'll sit together, silent, and trace the swirls with their eyes. Sometimes they’ll touch - shoulders pressed together, pinkies linked, fingers tracing lightly over leaves.

They begin to seek each other out when they need a bit of quiet companionship: when a physical therapy appointment didn't go as well as it should have; when a sweater, long forgotten, is found crumpled in document storage; when a partner is gone far longer than she should be; when a once-smiling face is glimpsed, now frowning; when the blood roars just a little too loud.

* * *

It's one of the better times, when they seek each other out because of a want, not a need, that Daisy suggests it.

She taps the back of Jon’s hand, tracing over a leaf near her elbow, to get his attention. He looks up to see two highlighters - one pink, one green - clutched in her hand.

He knows she is not offering to look over files or notes - other than Basira, he's the only one who ever really looks at statements anymore. Confused, Jon asks, “What are these for?”

“Just something Basira and I used to do,” Daisy answers. “We’d color them in, with pens, markers, highlighters, anything we had lying around. Helped us to calm down, focus.”

Jon stares at the highlighters. He'd thought about it before, wondered what it would be like to see the flowers full of color. He guesses that now is his chance to find out.

So he takes the pink highlighter and begins to color a rose on her wrist. He doesn't speak, wanting to preserve the sanctity of the ritual he has now been included in. The minutes pass, Jon colors, and he thinks they both feel safe.

* * *

It's a few weeks later, a rare moment where he, Daisy, Basira, and Melanie are all together in the break room. Basira sits on the couch, one hand running through Daisy’s short hair, another clasped around her right hand; Jon and Daisy sit on the floor, with Jon coloring a sunflower near her shoulder; and Melanie sits on a chair pulled close to the couch.

“Jon,” Melanie says, breaking the silence they had been sitting it, “have you seen Gerogie’s tattoos?”

Jon turns his head to look at her. “Well, I knew about the cat one, on her ankle, but I wasn't aware she had more.

“Yeah, but only one. A small ghost behind her ear. It's cute.” Melanie picks at the hole in her jeans. “How’d you know about the cat one?”

“I was with her when she got it, back in uni. We were drunk or something, and we walked by a place, and she just insisted that she had to get a cat tattoo, that she had been dreaming about it for ages, and if she didn't get it now she never would.” Melanie meets Jon’s gaze, and they both give small smiles, fond at the memory of someone they both love.

“So, if you were with her, why didn't you get one?” Daisy pokes him in the chest as she asks.

“I dunno. Guess I wasn't drunk enough.” They laugh, and Jon feels his smile grow bigger.

“You should get one,” Basira announces. “Me and Daisy know a few good places.”

Jon nods, and the quiet resumes. It's the good kind, not the type that has seeped like fog into the rest of the institute. Once again, Jon feels safe.

* * *

Jon never got the chance to get a tattoo before he turned the world upside down. But he’s ok with that, because he still has the memory of Daisy's. Sometimes, when trudging hand-in-hand with Martin toward an unknown future, he’ll think back to its design, and the safety of a garden he could get lost in.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you liked that! Sorry if the tags were at all misleading, or if something seems incorrect (I don't actually have a tattoo so it is possible I got something wrong). If I did, feel free to let me know!
> 
> I may expand this a bit later (maybe write the story of Georgie getting a tattoo? or something from Daisy's point of view?) Whatever happens, thanks for reading and have an awesome day!
> 
> Finally, feel free to come yell at me @mooseisloose237 on Tumblr!


End file.
